Pennsylvania HOA Governing Statute

Overview — How HOAs are governed in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania governs common interest communities through a bifurcated, UCIOA-derived framework built on two separate chapters of Title 68 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes: the Uniform Condominium Act (UCA) for condominiums and the Uniform Planned Community Act (UPCA) for planned communities. The UCA, 68 Pa.C.S. § 3101 et seq., took effect July 2, 1980, and draws from the 1980 Uniform Condominium Act — the model statute that became the condominium template within the later Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (UCIOA).¹ The UPCA, 68 Pa.C.S. § 5101 et seq., took effect February 2, 1997, and draws on the planned community provisions of UCIOA.² A third chapter, the Uniform Real Estate Cooperative Act, 68 Pa.C.S. § 4101 et seq., governs cooperatives.³

A community's governing framework turns largely on creation date. Condominiums created before the UCA's 1980 effective date were organized under the Pennsylvania Unit Property Act of 1963, 68 P.S. § 700.101 et seq., and planned communities created before the UPCA's 1997 effective date had no comprehensive state statute — they operated under their recorded covenants and the Nonprofit Corporation Law.⁴ Both the UCA and the UPCA include a UCIOA-style owner budget ratification mechanism: the executive board adopts the budget, but unit owners may reject it within 30 days.⁵

Disputes move through the courts. Pennsylvania maintains three statewide appellate courts: the Superior Court (most civil and criminal matters), the Commonwealth Court (Commonwealth agency and local government matters), and the Supreme Court (the court of last resort).⁶ HOA and condominium disputes proceed from the Courts of Common Pleas to the Superior Court — not the Commonwealth Court — with discretionary review by the Supreme Court. The result is a text-heavy, process-light regime in which the statute and the recorded declaration, rather than a standing regulator, set the rules.

The statutory framework

The Uniform Condominium Act (UCA)

The Uniform Condominium Act is codified at 68 Pa.C.S. § 3101 et seq. and was added by the Act of July 2, 1980, P.L. 286, No. 82, effective in 120 days.¹ It is based on the 1980 Uniform Condominium Act. The UCA governs condominiums created on or after its July 2, 1980 effective date; under the applicability section, 68 Pa.C.S. § 3102, an enumerated set of provisions also reaches condominiums created earlier — but only as to events occurring after the effective date and without invalidating existing declaration, code of regulations, or declaration plan provisions.⁷

The act is organized into four chapters within Subpart B of Title 68: Chapter 31 (General Provisions), Chapter 32 (Creation, Alteration and Termination of Condominiums), Chapter 33 (Management of the Condominium), and Chapter 34 (Protection of Purchasers).⁸ Key defined terms appear in 68 Pa.C.S. § 3103 and include "declarant," "common elements," "common expenses," "flexible condominium," "limited common elements," and "unit owners' association."⁹

The owner budget ratification mechanism is in 68 Pa.C.S. § 3303(b). After the executive board approves a budget or any capital expenditure, it must deliver copies to all unit owners; the owners, "by majority or any larger vote specified in the declaration, may reject any budget or capital expenditure approved by the executive board, within 30 days after the approval."¹⁰ The same section establishes the board's fiduciary duty and a default period of declarant control that terminates no later than 180 days after conveyance of 75% of the units.¹⁰

The UCA distinguishes mandatory provisions from those that may be varied. Under the variation-by-agreement section, 68 Pa.C.S. § 3104, "[e]xcept as expressly provided in this subpart, provisions of this subpart may not be varied by agreement, and rights conferred by this subpart may not be waived."¹¹ In practice, many management defaults — quorum, voting, board composition — may be tailored in the declaration or bylaws, while consumer-protection provisions, fiduciary duties, the 30-day budget rejection right, and lien rules are not waivable.

The Uniform Planned Community Act (UPCA)

The Uniform Planned Community Act is codified at 68 Pa.C.S. § 5101 et seq. Its operative chapters were added by the Act of December 19, 1996, P.L. 1336, No. 180, and the act took effect February 2, 1997.¹² It draws on the planned community provisions of UCIOA and governs planned communities (the statutory term for the communities commonly called HOAs) created on or after that date. The applicability section, 68 Pa.C.S. § 5102, generally applies the full subpart only to planned communities with more than 12 units; smaller and limited-purpose communities — for example, those whose common elements are limited to stormwater facilities, signage, or open space — are subject only to enumerated sections unless the declaration opts into the full act.¹³

Like the UCA, the UPCA is organized into four chapters within Subpart D: Chapter 51 (General Provisions), Chapter 52 (Creation, Alteration and Termination of Planned Communities), Chapter 53 (Management of Planned Community), and Chapter 54 (Protection of Purchasers).¹⁴ Defined terms are in 68 Pa.C.S. § 5103 and parallel the UCA's, with planned-community-specific terms such as "common facilities" and "controlled facilities."¹⁵

The owner budget ratification mechanism mirrors the UCA. Under 68 Pa.C.S. § 5303(b), after board approval of a budget or capital expenditure, unit owners "by majority or any larger vote specified in the declaration, may reject any budget or capital expenditure approved by the executive board within 30 days after such approval."¹⁶ The 30-day rejection window and the majority (or larger) threshold are identical to the condominium provision. The principal structural difference is the period of declarant control: the UPCA's § 5303(c) terminates declarant control no later than the earlier of 60 days after conveyance of 75% of the units, two years after the declarant stops offering units in the ordinary course, or two years after the last exercise of a development right — a different formulation from the UCA's flat 180-day-after-75% rule.¹⁶ Owners may remove a non-declarant board member by a two-thirds vote of those present at a meeting with a quorum under § 5303(f), a right that the 2022 amendments imported into the condominium chapter as § 3303(g).¹⁶

Predecessor framework and the role of CC&Rs

Condominiums created before the UCA's 1980 effective date were organized under the Pennsylvania Unit Property Act, enacted by the Act of July 3, 1963, P.L. 196, and codified at 68 P.S. § 700.101 et seq.¹⁷ That older statute remains in Purdon's Statutes (the P.S. citation system), in contrast to the UCA and UPCA, which sit in the Consolidated Statutes (Pa.C.S.); confusing the two citation systems is a common error. Unit Property Act communities may bring themselves fully under the UCA by amendment approved by 67% of the owners — a threshold the General Assembly lowered from the original near-unanimous requirement — but absent that step they continue to operate under the older law as hybrid UPA/UCA communities.¹⁸ The Superior Court confirmed in McLafferty v. Council for the Association of Owners of Condominium No. One that where a UPA-era declaration is silent on the amendment percentage, the UCA's two-thirds amendment requirement governs, resolving a common source of ambiguity for older communities.³⁵

Planned communities created before the UPCA's 1997 effective date had no comprehensive state statute. They operated, and to the extent not retrofitted continue to operate, under their recorded declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs) and, where the association is incorporated as a nonprofit, under the Pennsylvania Nonprofit Corporation Law of 1988, 15 Pa.C.S. § 5101 et seq.¹⁹ The UPCA does not retroactively impose its full scheme on these older communities; only the enumerated sections in § 5102(b) reach them, and only as to post-1997 events and without invalidating existing governing-document provisions.¹³

To determine which framework governs a given community, the threshold questions are: is it a condominium or a planned community, and what is its creation (declaration recording) date? A condominium recorded in 1985 is a UCA community; a condominium recorded in 1975 is a Unit Property Act community subject to a limited set of retroactive UCA provisions; a townhome HOA recorded in 2005 is a UPCA community; and a townhome HOA recorded in 1990 is governed primarily by its CC&Rs and nonprofit corporate law, subject to the UPCA's limited retroactive sections. Across all of these, common-law contract and property doctrine fills gaps: the declaration is treated as a contract among owners, and the supplemental general principles of law provisions — 68 Pa.C.S. § 3108 for condominiums and § 5108 for planned communities — preserve the law of contracts, real property, and equity except where displaced by the statute.²⁰

Compliance obligations created by the statutory framework

Governance obligations

Both acts require an annual meeting of the association, with meeting, quorum, and voting rules in 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3308–3310 (UCA) and §§ 5308–5310 (UPCA).²¹ Each act imposes a statutory fiduciary duty on officers and board members to act in good faith, in the best interests of the association, and with the care of a person of ordinary prudence, under § 3303(a) (UCA) and § 5303(a) (UPCA); this duty is mandatory and runs to the association, not to individual owners.^10,16 Records-access obligations appear in § 3316 (UCA) and § 5316 (UPCA): financial and other records must be made reasonably available for examination by any unit owner and authorized agents.²² Most governance defaults — board size, terms, election mechanics — may be varied by the declaration or bylaws, but the fiduciary duty, the records-access right, and the annual-meeting requirement are not waivable.

Financial obligations

Each act authorizes the association to adopt budgets and levy assessments for common expenses, with assessments made at least annually based on an annually adopted budget under § 3314 (UCA) and § 5314 (UPCA).²³ The owner budget ratification right — § 3303(b) (UCA) and § 5303(b) (UPCA) — is mandatory: the 30-day rejection window cannot be waived, although the declaration may set a rejection threshold higher than a simple majority.^10,16 Pennsylvania does not statutorily mandate reserve studies or minimum reserve funding; reserves are addressed through the board's fiduciary duty and through disclosure rather than a funding mandate.²⁴ Assessment liens arise under § 3315 (UCA) and § 5315 (UPCA) from the time the assessment becomes due, are perfected by the recorded declaration without a separate filing, and carry a limited six-month "super-priority" over a prior first mortgage; these lien provisions are mandatory and apply to pre-act communities as to post-act events.²⁵

Disclosure obligations

A declarant selling units must deliver a public offering statement under § 3402 (UCA) and § 5402 (UPCA).²⁶ On resale by a non-declarant owner, the seller must furnish a resale certificate — the "3407 certificate" for condominiums and the "5407 certificate" for planned communities — disclosing assessment amounts, unpaid balances, fees, pending litigation, insurance, and known violations, under § 3407 (UCA) and § 5407 (UPCA); the purchase contract is voidable until the certificate is delivered and for five days after.²⁷ These disclosure duties are mandatory and not waivable. The UPCA adds a developer financial-security obligation: planned communities that do not escrow deposits must register with the Office of Attorney General and post a bond or letter of credit.²⁸ Associations in communities with more than 12 units must prepare annual financial statements within 180 days of fiscal year-end under § 5316 (UPCA), with a parallel records duty under § 3316 (UCA).²²

Dispute resolution obligations

Before levying a fine, an association must give notice and an opportunity to be heard — an obligation tied to the association's fining power under § 3302(a)(11) (UCA) and § 5302(a)(11) (UPCA).²⁹ Act 17 of 2018 added a mandate that the bylaws of condominiums, cooperatives, and planned communities created after its effective date contain alternative dispute resolution procedures; for condominiums this appears as the ADR provision at 68 Pa.C.S. § 3321, with a parallel ADR provision in the planned community chapter.³⁰ The same 2018 law lets a unit owner "in good standing" file a complaint with the Bureau of Consumer Protection in the Office of Attorney General over violations relating to meetings, quorums, voting and proxies, and association records — § 3322 for condominiums and the parallel UPCA provision.³⁰ These ADR and complaint mechanisms are mandatory for post-2018 communities; the underlying disputes otherwise proceed through the Courts of Common Pleas to the Superior Court.

Pennsylvania's recent legislative and judicial activity

Recent bills

Pennsylvania's recent legislative activity has centered on modernizing how communities conduct elections and meetings, with one omnibus amendment already signed into law and a follow-on measure still working through committee.

Recent court rulings

Pennsylvania's appellate courts have recently addressed the reach of assessment lien priority, with one precedential ruling from the Superior Court already reshaping how collection counsel approaches foreclosure strategy.

Active legislative debates

Pennsylvania's policy conversation has recently focused on reserve funding mandates and on better tracking and disclosing the state's common interest communities at the point of sale.

Recent policy discussion has centered on whether Pennsylvania should mandate reserve studies and reserve funding, and on better identifying and disclosing common interest communities at the point of sale. The Joint State Government Commission's March 2023 report found "at least 5,022 CIOCs exist in Pennsylvania at the end of February 2023" and recommended that the General Assembly "examine the uniform act to determine its relevance to Pennsylvania and consider enacting it," referencing the 2021 UCIOA amendments.³⁶

National positioning and related coverage

Pennsylvania sits in the UCIOA-derived but bifurcated category, structurally similar to North Carolina, which splits condominiums (Chapter 47C) from planned communities (Chapter 47F). Pennsylvania carries the substance of UCIOA across two separate Title 68 chapters — the UCA for condominiums and the UPCA for planned communities — rather than as a single integrated statute. This distinguishes it from single-statute UCIOA jurisdictions such as Alaska and Colorado and from bespoke, non-UCIOA regimes such as California, Florida, and Texas.

Pennsylvania's distinctive features are an early UCIOA-derived condominium framework (1980), the bifurcated UCA/UPCA structure with separate section numbers, and a three-appellate-court system that routes association disputes through the Superior Court. For multi-state operators, the practical implication is clear: a Pennsylvania community's obligations depend on first classifying it as a condominium or a planned community and then applying the correct chapter. The section numbers and a few substantive rules differ between them, so cross-chapter assumptions create compliance risk.

Federal frameworks — including the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act — also apply to Pennsylvania communities and are covered separately in HOA Weekly's federal section.

Closing note

Pennsylvania's framework rewards precision. The bifurcated structure means a misstep as basic as applying the wrong chapter's section numbers can undermine an otherwise solid compliance posture. Classification comes first: condominium or planned community, and what is its creation date. Everything else — governance defaults, lien mechanics, disclosure obligations, dispute procedures — flows from that threshold determination. The statutory text and the recorded declaration set the rules; no standing regulator fills the gaps. Act 115's 2022 amendments modernized electronic procedures for all community types, but they apply prospectively, and older governing documents that conflict with them remain in force until amended. The Superior Court's Foxfield decision is now the definitive word on first-mortgage priority through a foreclosure sale. And the Joint State Government Commission's 2023 report signals that reserve-funding and community-identification reforms are on the legislative horizon — worth monitoring as the General Assembly weighs how far to move toward a unified UCIOA approach.

Footnotes

1. Pennsylvania General Assembly, 68 Pa.C.S. § 3101, Uniform Condominium Act — Short title; enactment July 2, 1980, P.L. 286, No. 82 ↩
2. Pennsylvania General Assembly, 68 Pa.C.S. § 5101, Uniform Planned Community Act — Short title; enactment Dec. 19, 1996, P.L. 1336, No. 180; effective Feb. 2, 1997 ↩
3. Pennsylvania General Assembly, Title 68 Chapter Index, 68 Pa.C.S. § 4101 et seq., Uniform Real Estate Cooperative Act ↩
4. Pennsylvania General Assembly, Act of July 3, 1963, P.L. 196, Unit Property Act, 68 P.S. § 700.101 et seq. ↩
5. Justia, 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3303(b), 5303(b) — Owner budget rejection within 30 days ↩
6. Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, Superior Court — Jurisdiction overview ↩
7. HOA Pulse, Pennsylvania HOA Law Overview — 68 Pa.C.S. § 3102, Applicability of UCA; limited retroactivity ↩
8. Pennsylvania General Assembly, Title 68 Chapter Structure — Chapters 31–34, Uniform Condominium Act ↩
9. Pennsylvania Uniform Condominium Act (annotated), 68 Pa.C.S. § 3103 — UCA defined terms ↩
10. Justia, 68 Pa.C.S. § 3303 — Executive board; fiduciary duty; budget rejection; declarant control ↩
11. Pennsylvania Uniform Condominium Act (annotated), 68 Pa.C.S. § 3104 — Variation by agreement ↩
12. Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Uniform Planned Community Act, 68 Pa.C.S. § 5101; enactment Dec. 19, 1996, P.L. 1336, No. 180; effective Feb. 2, 1997 ↩
13. Justia, 68 Pa.C.S. § 5102 — Applicability of UPCA; 12-unit threshold; limited retroactivity ↩
14. Pennsylvania General Assembly, Title 68 Chapter Structure — Chapters 51–54, Uniform Planned Community Act ↩
15. Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Uniform Planned Community Act, 68 Pa.C.S. § 5103 — UPCA defined terms ↩
16. Justia, 68 Pa.C.S. § 5303 — Executive board; fiduciary duty; budget rejection; declarant control; board-member removal ↩
17. Pennsylvania General Assembly, Act of July 3, 1963, P.L. 196 — Unit Property Act, 68 P.S. § 700.101 et seq. ↩
18. ACRI Realty, How the Pennsylvania Condominium Act Evolved: A Timeline — UPA-to-UCA conversion at 67% threshold ↩
19. HOA Pulse, Pennsylvania HOA Law Overview — 15 Pa.C.S. § 5101 et seq., Nonprofit Corporation Law of 1988 ↩
20. Pennsylvania Uniform Condominium Act (annotated), 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3108, 5108 — Supplemental general principles of law ↩
21. Pennsylvania General Assembly, 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3308–3310 (UCA) and §§ 5308–5310 (UPCA) — Meetings, quorums, voting ↩
22. Pennsylvania General Assembly, 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3316, 5316 — Association records; annual financial statements ↩
23. Justia, 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3314, 5314 — Assessments for common expenses ↩
24. PropFusion Law Guide, Pennsylvania Reserve Study Requirements — No statutory mandate for reserve studies or minimum reserve funding ↩
25. Justia, 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3315, 5315 — Lien for assessments; six-month super-priority over first mortgage ↩
26. Pennsylvania General Assembly, 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3402, 5402 — Public offering statement ↩
27. FindLaw, 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3407, 5407 — Resales of units; resale certificate; contract voidable ↩
28. Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Uniform Planned Community Act — Developer registration, financial security, escrow/bond/letter of credit ↩
29. FindLaw, 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3302(a)(11), 5302(a)(11) — Fining power; notice and opportunity to be heard ↩
30. Clemons Law, Act of May 4, 2018, P.L. 96, No. 17 — ADR bylaws mandate; Bureau of Consumer Protection complaints; 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3321, 3322 ↩
31. Pennsylvania General Assembly, Act 115 of 2022 (HB 1795) — Omnibus amendment to UCA, UPCA, Real Estate Cooperative Act; signed Nov. 3, 2022; eff. 180 days (May 2023) ↩
32. CAI Keystone, Pennsylvania Legislative Action Committee, "PA Act 115 of 2023: Retroactive, or not?" — Act 115 applies prospectively; does not supersede pre-2023 governing document provisions ↩
33. Pennsylvania General Assembly, House Bill 1377 of 2025 (2025–2026 Regular Session) — Amending Title 68 provisions on local-ordinance applicability and community creation; introduced and referred to committee ↩
34. Justia, Foxfield at Naaman's Creek Homeowner Ass'n v. Eventoff (Appeal of Reverse Mortgage Funding, LLC), No. 1017 EDA 2024, 2024 PA Super 316 (Pa. Super. Dec. 31, 2024); allocatur denied No. 56 MAL 2025 ↩
35. PA Zoning Lawyers, McLafferty v. Council for the Ass'n of Owners of Condominium No. One, No. 1338 EDA 2015 (Pa. Super. Sept. 12, 2016) — UCA amendment-threshold applies retroactively where declaration is silent ↩
36. Joint State Government Commission, "Common Interest Ownership Communities" (March 2023) — 5,022 CIOCs identified; recommendation to examine 2021 UCIOA amendments ↩